ETRA on PTI

19th July 2012

ETRA, the European Twowheel Retailers’ Association clarifies its position on the recently announced European Commission proposal for mandatory periodical technical inspections (roadworthiness testing) for all Powered Two Wheelers.

ETRA states that it, “Shares the Commission’s view that accurate and stringent technical inspections can contribute to saving more lives on European roads.”

The current EU rules only set minimum standards for vehicle checks and date back to 1977, with only minor updates. Since then, vehicles, driver behaviour and technology have developed a lot. The new proposals published on Friday 13th July aim to toughen the testing regime and to widen its scope.

One of the key elements of the Roadworthiness package is the introduction of compulsory EU wide testing for scooters and motorbikes. The reason for this introduction is that, according to the EU executive body, motorbike and scooter riders, particularly young riders, are the highest risk group among road users.

Annick Roetynck, ETRA Secretary General says, ““We believe these new provisions may contribute to making motorcycling safer, hence more widely and socially accepted by the European, national and local authorities and by the other road users”, adding that, “ETRA and its members will support and actively campaign for this proposal to be adopted by the European Parliament and the Council”.

Further Information on periodical technical inspections on Right To Ride EU –Click Here

European Commission proposes mandatory periodical technical inspections for all Powered Two Wheelers

19th July 2012

On Friday 13th July the European Commission published a new set of proposals, the Roadworthiness package, that has the ambition of saving more than 1,200 lives a year and to avoid more than 36,000 accidents linked to technical failure.

The Roadworthiness Package is composed of a Communication of the Commission to the Council and European Parliament accompanying the actual legislative proposals.

The long awaited new rules, if adopted by the EU legislators, will include mandatory periodical technical inspection for all Powered Two Wheelers, which are excluded from the scope of the current rules enshrined in Directive 2009/40/EC on roadworthiness for motor vehicles and their trailers.

In the view of the EU executive body, vehicle checks are fundamental to road safety. Roadworthiness checks not only ensure vehicles are working properly, they are also important for environmental reasons and for safeguarding fair competition in the transport sector.

According to the European Commission, technical defects contribute considerably to accidents. It is estimated that 8 % of all motorcycle accidents are linked to technical defects. In addition, according to recent data, more than 5 people die on Europe’s roads every day in accidents linked to technical failure.

European Commission proposes mandatory periodical technical inspections for all Powered Two Wheelers

The current EU rules which only set minimum standards for vehicle checks date back to 1977, with only minor updates. Since then, vehicles, driver behaviour and technology have developed a lot. The new proposals published on Friday 13th July aim to toughen the testing regime and to widen its scope.

One of the key elements of the Roadworthiness package is the introduction of a compulsory EU wide testing for scooters and motorbikes. The reason for this introduction is that, according to the EU executive body, motorbike and scooter riders, particularly young riders, are the highest risk group among road users.

As part of the package, the Commission proposes mandatory tests for PTWs four years after the date of registration, followed by a second roadworthiness after two years, after which the test must be carried out every year.

ETRA shares the Commission’s view that accurate and stringent technical inspections can contribute to saving more lives on European roads.

“We believe these new provisions may contribute to making motorcycling safer, hence more widely and socially accepted by the European, national and local authorities and by the other road users”, says Annick Roetynck, ETRA Secretary General. “ETRA and its members will support and actively campaign for this proposal to be adopted by the European Parliament and the Council”.

Comments Will No Longer Be Posted

It appears that the so called “Trevor Bird” is a trouble maker. The discussion started by this person about FEMA’s role regarding the Road Worthiness Testing proposal (due to the fact that we had reported the press release from ETRA), degenerated from accusations about our credibility into a series of personal insults.

We contacted people we know in FEMA and their comment was that the staff or delegates could not be so stupid as to post the comments seen here on this page. We’d like to think that is true.

It is not our intentions to attack FEMA as an organisation. We may not always agree, we may think that the incumbent General Secretary is ineffective, infact as mentioned in our response, FEMA needs competent and intelligent representation.

However we do believe that FEMA has a very important role to play in representing motorcyclists in Brussels.

In the spirit of collaboration we have removed “Trevor Bird’s” comments.

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